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Surprised by a Nanowire: Simulation, Control, and Understanding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Johannes Lenhard
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Abstract

This paper starts by looking at the coincidence of surprising behavior on the nanolevel in both matter and simulation. It uses this coincidence to argue that the simulation approach opens up a pragmatic mode of understanding oriented toward design rules and based on a new instrumental access to complex models. Calculations, and their variation by means of explorative numerical experimentation and visualization, can give a feeling for a model's behavior and the ability to control phenomena, even if the model itself remains epistemically opaque. Thus, the investigation of simulation in nanoscience provides a good example of how science is adapting to a new instrument: computer simulation.

Type
Simulation, Instrumentation, and Representation at the Nanoscale
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 73 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2004 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers. Edited by Miriam Solomon , December 2006 , pp. 605 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

I would like to thank Alfred Nordmann, Martin Carrier, and the contributors to the discussions at PSA 2004 for useful comments and suggestions.

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